In my opinion, one of the biggest obstacles and challenges I have faced in my short time training Jiujitsu, is when it comes time for competition. I will be the first to admit I get extremely anxious the night and day of competition. It is not fear or worry. I just really want to perform well and I have a habit of putting so much pressure on myself. I don’t want to let anyone down, and I’ll admit I have trouble losing. I understand losses are inevitable, but they are still hard to take. It is something I am working on though as a BJJ athlete. Some people perform their best under high pressure circumstances while others do not and they shut down. Every single person is different, and the brain reacts differently for everyone. I am still trying to figure out how my brain works under pressure; however one thing I do know is that mental preparation is KEY to success in the competition arena. I want to talk about a few aspects that have helped me in competition and hopefully they may help you as well.
1. Visualization– Positive visualization is a great tool to use if you are a competitor or if you have performance anxiety. It is essentially a mental rehearsal you play in your head. Imagine yourself having success in whatever you’re about to do, and go through the motions you want to use to succeed. Also, go through this as if you are there in real time. Do not watch yourself compete in your mind, but rather put yourself in the actual scenario. Picture yourself confident and go through the motions in your head at the same speed you would in competition. The final picture you should have in your mind is you winning. Be confident in yourself and your abilities.
2. Cognitive Reconstructuring– This is a term used to define a technique to help with thought patterns. You have to learn to be able to control your thought patterns, and the thoughts that enter your head. We all have negative thoughts. That is human nature; however you need to be able to replace them with positive thoughts. That is what cognitive reconstructing is. As soon as you can recognize you’re having a negative thought, replace it with a positive one. In my opinion, positive thoughts are so key to success. Practice this technique and pretty soon this will become a habit and you will see improvement in performance.
3. Focus on what you CAN control– Stop worrying about who is watching you or who is in your division. These aspects are completely and utterly out of your control. Instead focus on yourself and your performance. Make sure you have done everything you can to prepare yourself. That is something you can control.
4. Breathing– If you haven’t tried what is called a Centering Breath, I highly recommend it. It is a stress control technique. It can be done standing, sitting or lying down. Try to limit your movement though. Start with a deep inhale through the nose filling your lungs to about 50%. Then continue until about 80%. Then take one more ending in an exhale from the mouth. When exhaling pay attention to your breath. Centering breaths are designed to get air into the diaphragm. For more in depth details or to see how it is done, there are many videos available online.
5. Embrace the environment– Competitions are chaotic. There is a LOT going on. Embrace it. Take it all in. After all, it is all a part of the experience. You can be a serious competitor and still take in the whole environment of the competition scene. Have fun with it and don’t let it add any more stress .
I hope this helps some BJJ players out there. Like I said before, everyone is different. Everyone handles competition in their own way. Being a competitor can definitely carry its stress though, and it is helpful to know there are techniques and ways that help cope with that stress. On that note, I hope everyone has an awesome competition season in 2015!
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